You Have Connections to the Other Side
is the eighth episode of Survivor: Tajikistan. Summary Khujand Back at camp Prisha thanks her tribe for keeping her. Arjun says it was a no brainer and Dustin agrees. Sophia and Oliver go off alone and Sophia asks how they're supposed to get out of their situation. Oliver says they could get Arjun and Dustin paranoid and think that Lara is trying to flip on them. Sophia says that could work since Dustin is an emotional player and Oliver says they don't have many other choices. In the morning, Lara pulls Dustin aside and the two start talking strategy. Lara mentions how at merge the people without loved ones are going to have to stick together and have each others backs since they're instant targets and Dustin agrees. Lara says they can keep Claire and Aliyah close since they don't have loved ones and Dustin says they could bring in Prisha too since her husband is gone. Lara says she's glad the two of them have gotten closer and Dustin agrees, saying he think's shes a queen. Dustin goes straight to Arjun and Prisha and tells them about how Lara is trying to split the group in half based on couples and singles. Arjun says he's been worried about her for a while and Prisha says they can just use her for a bit as a number for them until she becomes too dangerous and then they can get rid of her. Arjun says he's hoping the merge is soon so they can get back with Aliyah and Claire and figure out their game plan for the merge. Prisha says she thinks the merge could happen this round and Dustin says he'd love that. Dushanbe Baxter and Kevin are hanging out together and Kevin asks what they do if they lose. Baxter says they could try to get out Gerald again but he might have to use an idol on himself or Kevin if Aliyah and Claire don't go for it again. Kevin says they hope the idol doesn't have to be used so they can have it at merge but they don't think Aliyah and Claire will budge. Baxter says hopefully the merge is either this round or next round and they're able to win immunity for this round. Moriah and Gerald are talking together and Gerald asks if Moriah trusts Aliyah and Claire. Moriah says she does because they've been aligned all game and if they wanted to flip on them they would've last night. Gerald says the merge is going to be chaotic with all of the alliances and couples and Moriah says she thinks they're gonna be good at merge with all of the allies they've accumulated. Aliyah and Claire are sitting in a hammock together and Aliyah says she's worried going into merge. Claire asks why and Aliyah says that the two of them, Dustin and Lara are all singles while Arjun, Kevin, Moriah and Gerald can all gang together as couples and already have 4 solid numbers. Claire says the loved ones twist is definitely scary for singles and Aliyah says she wants the two of them to stick together and Claire agrees, saying she's glad they got closer because of the swap. Challenge Everybody sees that Brody and Misty got voted out and are shocked an entire couple got out in one night. The challenge is played and Khujand wins immunity. The tribe begins to discuss about exiel and Arjun asks if they can send Kevin which everybody agrees to, especially Prisha. Jeff tells Kevin they can pick whoever they want from the other tribe to go to exile with them and they pick Arjun. Exile Island Kevin and Arjun walk into exile island and Arjun gets the idol clue. Arjun asks how it's going on Kevin's tribe and Kevin says it's okay but they're not saying a lot about it. Arjun asks Kevin what's wrong and Kevin's silent for a moment before breaking down crying. They talk about how they were on the bottom of their original tribe and now they're on the bottom of their swapped tribe and they'd probably have gotten out if they weren't on exile. Arjun consoles them but then tells Kevin he can tell there is something they're not telling him because he's never seen Kevin get so emotional. Kevin mentions how they were supposed to get out but got saved last second because Melinda started being transphobic and offensive at tribal council. Arjun hugs Kevin and tells them that at the merge the two of them will link up and dominate the game and get to the end together. Dushanbe After the challenge Baxter is alone at the beach and starts to talk himself through strategies. In a confessional he says he can obviously just play his idol and choose who goes but he wants to try to hold onto his idol and use it sometime at the merge. After drawing in the sand to figure out numbers, Baxter goes up to Aliyah and Claire. Baxter says he's throwing his vote onto Gerald to split up a couple. Baxter points out how if they can get rid of as many pairs as possible going into the merge that would be very ideal for all of the singles, so if Gerald goes that leaves Arjun and Kevin as the only pair left. Aliyah says the two of them will talk about it because they're scared of the couples too. Aliyah, Claire, Gerald and Moriah are talking and Gerald says the votes pretty straight forward and the others laugh and agree. Moriah says she really hopes Baxter doesn't have an idol and Claire says she doubts he has one but it's definitely a scary concern. Moriah and Gerald walk off together and Gerald asks if he should throw a vote onto Claire. Moriah asks why he would do that and Gerald says if Baxter has an idol then he will go home. Moriah says that throwing a vote onto Claire does nothing because if Baxter has an idol then Aliyah and Baxter will just vote Gerald out in the revote and if he doesn't have an idol then Claire won't trust Gerald going forward. Gerald agrees to not throw his vote but he's worried for tribal and Moriah agrees. In a confessional Baxter says he's worried about the vote because he could play his idol just to be safe even if it could be a waste, or he could try to trust Aliyah and Claire and keep his idol until the merge but that could cause him to get himself voted out if Aliyah and Claire don't flip. Tribal Council Jeff asks Moriah how the last vote has affected the tribe and Moriah says that it further solidified the alliances made. Jeff asks Baxter about the alliances and Baxter says it's him and Kevin against everyone else. Jeff asks Gerald if that means Baxter is in trouble because Kevin is on exile and Gerald says Baxter is definitely in trouble and he knows he's in trouble. Jeff asks Aliyah if there's any chance of Baxter staying and Aliyah says there definitely is and that nobody is out of the game until their torch is officially snuffed. Baxter looks down at his bag that has his idol in it and takes a deep breath. Everyone casts their votes, followed by Jeff reading them. First vote... Baxter Gerald. That's one vote Baxter, one vote Gerald. Gerald nods. Baxter Baxter looks very worried. Gerald. That's two votes Baxter, two votes Gerald. Gerald and Moriah both look shocked and Aliyah smiles. Ninth person voted out of Survivor: Tajikistan... Gerald (3-2) Gerald looks shocked as he hugs and kisses Moriah goodbye and tells her to get revenge for him. Moriah glares at Aliyah and Claire who look proud of their decision to flip. Gerald gets his torch snuffed and Baxter thanks Aliyah and Claire for saving him. Votes Aliyah voted Gerald: "You being in a couple is honestly too threatening for my game. especially because you have connections to the other side that I don't have. Moriah is going to kill me, but hopefully this is the right move." Baxter voted Gerald: "I'm putting a ton of trust into those girls and I'm honestly still not sure if I'm going to play my idol tonight or not, I'm very scared and the indecisiveness doesn't help. Either way, good luck dude." Claire voted Gerald: "I'm so so sorry but this seems like the smartest move to me right now, it's best case scenario for everybody to get rid of the couples. Well, it's not best case scenario for the couples but you get it." Gerald voted Baxter: "You came after me first so this is only payback, hopefully you don't have an idol and this can stay as a simple unanimous vote." Moriah voted Baxter: "You seem like a nice man but unfortunately the way the numbers worked out we weren't able to be closer or work together. Just do me a favor and don't idol out my husband, okay?" Final Words "I'm quite honestly blindsided by this move. I don't really get why Aliyah and Claire would flip especially with a merge possibly happening soon, but I guess that's the game for ya. I'm so happy I got to play with my wife even if it was just for 9 days. My dream of playing Survivor has come true and I just hope Moriah can get herself back in the numbers so she doesn't follow me here.." - Gerald, 12th Place